“Serving all seven districts of the Gila River Indian Community” Blackwater - Hashen Kehk - Gu U Ki - Santan - Casa Blanca - Komatke - Maricopa Colony SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 WWW.GILARIVER.ORG/NEWS VOL. 16, NO. 13 Change Service Requested Sacaton, P. News Gila River Indian O Fiscal Year 2014 Operating Budget Approved . Box 459 division. Keep in mind that each Executive Division Youth Council and the Council of A By Gov. Gregory Mendoza Z 85147 Gila River Indian Community division is structured by the GRIC The Executive Division is Elders provide information and Interim Organizational Chart by characterized by a diversity of advice to the Executive Office on Dear Community members, Resolution GR-214-11. administrative offices, special in- constituent matters for policy de- On July 29, 2013, at a Special Efforts will continue in pro- terest and advisory groups, and velopment consideration. And, Council meeting of the Gila River viding greater transparency to direct service providers. The Of- the Defense Services Office pro- Indian Community Council, the uphold the commitment made fice of the Community Manager, vides services to Community Gila River Indian Community to provide regular and on-going Communications & Public Affairs members, who otherwise might Fiscal Year 2014 Operating Bud- communication with Commu- Office, and the Management In- not have representation in legal get (GR-138-13) was approved. nity members. I encourage every formation Systems Department defense matters. Below you will find a brief narra- Community member to review the provide direct support to the Ex- P R tive overview of each division and 25 No. Permit STA U.S. Postage U.S. information provided. ecutive Office in carrying out the Sacaton, E approved funds allocated to each S day-to-day activities associated P N A O I department/program within each DA D with the tribal government. The Continued on Page 4 R A TED TED R Z D5 resident gets new home with D Housing Improvement Program By Mikhail Sundust floors.” U.S. Dept. of Gila River Indian News Medina went before Council Angeline Medina let out and fought for a new home. DCH Labor visits a delicate gasp supported by a found some funds from the Bu- E&T on heels smile. She’d been waiting for reau of Indian Affairs’ Housing this day for over a year. “Thank Improvement Program and took of recent grant you” escaped her lips and floated on the project. By Mikhail Sundust from the white linoleum tiles to HIP Housing is a home repair Gila River Indian News the warm beige walls of her new and replacement program that uti- house as the housing rep passed lizes federal funds from the BIA. When the five women from Applicants must qualify on a na- Washington, D.C. exited the her the new keys. Mikhail Sundust/GRIN tional level and place a bid for a Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Re- “On behalf of Department Above: Department of Commu- new home, which competes with of Community Housing and Dis- nity Housing built a new home sort, they received two shocks. trict 5, welcome home,” said Paul bids from tribal members across in D5 with its in-house con- First, the heat – Angie Campbell: Flores, a Project Manager with the country. struction crew. Right: Angeline “OMG, is all I have to say.” the Department of Community Because the project used fed- Medina accepts the keys to her Campbell, Andrala Walker, new home. Housing. eral dollars, instead of tribal dol- Serena Boyd, Deborah Kobes lars, DCH took on the task rather and Geri Scott visited the Gila Fifteen months before the DCH Construction Foreman Da- than the Department of Housing River Indian Community for four new keys, standing in the same vid Miers. That means the walls, Development. Mikhail Sundust/GRIN days last month to meet with the housing allotment in District 5, the roof, the plumbing, the elec- And because it’s a replace- they built it, which means the Employment & Training Depart- surrounded by the same skinny trical wiring – everything. And ment program, DCH and D5 home is unique to Medina. They ment and talk about a recent grant mesquite trees, was a rusty bucket they kept it all under a budget of Community Services had to tear made several aspects of it handi- the tribe garnered from the U.S. of a mobile home. $120,000. down the old home and clear the cap accessible, which could come Department of Labor. The first “My house was condemned By doing it internally, rather lot for a new one. in handy if Medina has a disabled thing they did on the reservation and we were trying to get some- than contracting the work out, DCH is particularly proud of guest over. was take a tour of the community. thing better,” said Medina. “We they avoided paying for the over- this 1600-square-foot, four-bed/ Construction began in mid- The second shock came with didn’t have no cooking stove. We head and profit margin of another two-bath house because its own May and took about 90 days to their tour guides, who were unex- didn’t have no water heater. (Her company, said Flores. in-house construction crew built complete. According to Miers, pectedly young. “I wanted them propane-rigged heating system Furthermore, since they it. “It all went pretty smooth.” DCH to see the Community through was deemed a hazard.) The water owned the house floor plans, they “Everything from the slab plans on building more houses the eyes of the youth,” said Lana from the shower was coming out were able to modify the construc- (foundation) up, we built,” said Chanda, director of E&T. into the bedroom. It tore up the tion layout of the house before Continued on Page 5 Randi Thompson, 24, and David Williams, 20, presented Sun Valley and Copper Train team up to rebrand race track the Community to their guests from west to east in their own words and through the stories By Joshua Jovanelly Community member-run busi- of their families. “We were both Gila River Indian News nesses, had leased the land adja- cent to the I-10, and Wild Horse really nervous but Lana had so much faith in us,” said Thomp- Earlier this year, the survival Pass to Firebird. Now, it has tran- sitioned from a leasing company son. of the motorsports facility near They saw the new Vee Quiva Wild Horse Pass was no certainty. to an economic developer that owns the re-named racetrack. In- Hotel and Casino in D6, passed When the lease with Firebird the Multi-Purpose Building in International Raceway expired in stead of leasing the track to an outside operator, Sun Valley has D1 and observed the Japanese In- April, it wasn’t clear who would ternment Camps from a distance. operate the racetrack next or teamed up with Copper Train De- velopment Partners to rebrand and Some had never been on an In- whether or not racing on the Gila dian reservation before. River Indian Community had seen revamp the defunct Firebird into something the Community can be The Gila River Indian Com- its final checkered flag. But with munity Employment & Training some persistence from a familiar proud of. “We’re working to achieve Department received national at- team of Community members and tention last year when it was the the support of a new partner, the our dream,” said Harlan Bohnee, Joshua Jovanelly/GRIN only Native American organiza- future of the new Wild Horse Pass president of the Sun Valley Ma- Sun Valley Marina Corp. board members Harlan Bohnee (presi- rina board. “The team has agreed tion to earn grant money from dent), Cheryl Coppedge (secretary) and Pam Pratt (treasurer) Motorsports Park appears bright. the Department of Labor’s Work- For 30 years, the Sun Valley and Copper Train President Paul Clayton are ready for a fresh Continued on Page 8 start. Marina Corp., one of the oldest Continued on Page 5 Health & Wellness.....Page 7 DSO 10th NFL IN the GRIN Law & Order................Page 7 Per Capita Letters & Opinions......Page 3 Education.....................Page 8 Anniversary, Preview, Community Updates..Page 5 Announcements/Notices Page 9 Corner, Page 9 Culture & History.....Page 6 Action Sheets............Page 10 Page 7 Page 6 Gila River Telecommunications, Inc. “Proudly serving the Gila River Indian Community since 1988” Box 5015, 7065 West Allison Road, Chandler, Arizona 85226-5135 (520) 796-3333 • www.gilanet.net • fax (520)796-7534 “Celebrating 25 Years of serving the Gila River Indian Community” Summer & monsoon are in full swing and sometimes we just want to stay inside! GRTI’s High Speed Internet Bundles are great for the times you don’t want to set foot out your door. Access the world from the comfort of your home! GRTI’s Internet Bundles are available in a variety of price ranges to make your life a little bit easier. 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